Nighttime Friends
by kutnermd5
Summary: Rouge overhears Shadow talking to himself one night, or rather, talking to a nonexistent Maria. She at first shrugs it off as it were nothing, until she hears some rather interesting facts about her and Shadow's relationship. SHADOUGE


Nighttime Friends

by KMD

Rouge sighed, boredom clear in her voice. It was nighttime, around 9:00 PM, the time where she was usually the most active. But not tonight. Tonight, along with all of the previous nights, was extremely uneventful. The entire week was uneventful. Why? Shadow and herself had piped down from the missions they were normally set to do, and temporarily settled down in an abandoned house they found in in the city, much to both of their dismays. As much as she loved her relaxation, even Rouge got tired of doing practically the same thing every day and night. Usually, in the night, she'd go into the city and rob the local jewelry stores of their diamonds and rubies and whatnot. But she had already hit most of the stores in town, and the ones she didn't get were full of things not worth stealing.

She sighed again and started banging the back of her head against the bedpost, as if it would actually do something. It didn't – just gave her a larger headache. She started to wonder if Shadow was suffering from the same thing she was. Probably not, as the black hedgehog had bigger and better things to worry about. Sighing and rubbing the back of her head slightly, Rouge grabbed the TV remote and turned it on. She tiredly flipped through the channels, looking for anything remotely interesting. 'My Wife and Kids', 'I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant' (_i'What idiots,'/i _Rouge thought to herself), 'Dr. G' repeat, 'Dora the Explorer' – who watches Dora at this hour? Who watches Dora, _iperiod/i_?

She finally decided to look up the news channel and see if anything interesting had happened over the past week. She flipped it up on her remote, and, as usual, the reporter was just finishing a story.

i_"Thanks, Steve. Now, reports state that one of the biggest jewelry stores in Future City was robbed last night of all its valuables. Many police working on the crime suspected it to be committed by the famous jewel thief, Rouge the bat, but found quite a shock when they found no evidence while searching the place. Not even a calling card or a lead as to who robbed the place. The jewelry store was said to have some of the biggest gemstones in the world, including __rubies, diamonds, emeralds, sapphires -"/i_

"Agh! You're kidding me right? I missed the world's largest and most dazzling gems for i_this?/i_" Rouge shouted at no one in particular while madly clicking the TV off. She banged her head against the bedpost again in frustration. "Hugh..." she sighed, leaning against the wall of the bed. Shaking her head, she got up of the side of the bed and walked out of her room. All Rouge could really think of at that moment was food – it usually cured her boredom... usually. Walking down the hallway and to the stairs, she stopped for a moment in front of Shadow's room, wondering for a second what he was doing. She shook the thought off; perhaps he was already downstairs. But then her large ears picked up a sound.

More like a mutter coming from the other side of the door.

Interested, Rouge backed up a bit and leaned her head against the door to get a better listen.

"...My life actually hasn't been going all that well lately," she heard. Shadow's voice, definitely. But who could he i_possibly/i_ be talking to at this hour? "..For one thing, Rouge and I have taken a break from our job in this old abandoned house we found in the city. Which would be good and all, but there's nothing really to do." So he i_was/i_ feeling the same boredom she was feeling! "Every night is so quiet. It's like I'm the only one even here. Even Rouge is keeping it down, which... kinda surprised me, to tell the truth."

"I'm not THAT loud..." Rouge whispered to herself. "... am I?"

"All these nights alone just make me think about all the nights we spent together, Maria."

_i'Maria? Is that who he's talking to? I sure as hell hope he doesn't still think she's still alive,'/i_ Rouge thought, shaking her head. All this time, he was just talking to Maria. She had just thought he was talking to someone on the phone. Then again... who would he be calling?

"I miss that. I miss the way we would just talk to each other about practically nothing. I miss the way you used to cuddle up against me and give me this warm feeling that I've never felt before. Nobody's given that to me other than you." Rouge sighed quietly. Shadow really did love that girl.

"Well... maybe one other person has as well."

The sudden statement came like a punch to the face. Shadow liked somebody more than just a friend, b**other/b** than Maria? That couldn't be possible – he was more anti-social than Knuckles and Eggman combined! Who could he _ipossibly/i_ even consider more than a friend?

"You know Rouge, right? The girl I always hang out with? She's been with me practically ever since Eggman freed me from that capsule. At first, she was just in it for the jewels. But... ever since awakened me from that second capsule, I've never really felt the same about her. Whenever she's around, I get this tingly warm feeling inside that I've only gotten when I was with you. She's so... beautiful, adventurous, entertaining at times, and she's really nice to me. She comforted me through the hardest times – when I found that wrecked android of me after we defeated that fake Eggman, whenever I was having my 'moments', even when I just wasn't really feeling all that great – like the world was against me. I even remember her once saying to me, 'even if the whole world is against you, know that I'll always remain by your side'. I'm almost sure she only meant that as us only being friends, but she told me to always remember that, no matter what. And you know what, Maria? I _iwill/i_ always remember that, no matter what."

Rouge blushed madly. Even when she said that statement, she wasn't sure if she said it out of friendship or love, but she was glad that he would always remember it.

"..Though, I'm not sure what good it's gonna do me. Rouge already seems to have a thing for this guy, Knuckles, even though they act like they hate each other's guts. Not to mention, he's got a huge emerald that she's practically in love with, so if she ever needed motivation to get with him, that emerald oughta do her in. But I doubt she'd go with me. I'm stubborn, anti-social, a lot of people seem to hate me, and all I have is a lousy Chaos Emerald that I only carry around to induce Chaos Control. Knuckles – he's strong, head tight, entertaining, a bit on the dumb side, and i_very/i_ gullible, but all in all, he seems to be a better match for her than me." Shadow paused a second and sighed. "I wish you were here, Maria. This wouldn't be happening if you were here. And even if it still did, you'd be able to help me through it. Nobody got me through such big problems better than you..."

"Well, that's all I really have to say," Shadow concluded. "I guess I'll talk to you tomorrow. Good night, Maria." The night went silent again. Rouge moved a bit away from the door, shocked at what she just heard. Shadow... was in love? And with her, out of all people? Yes, she was attractive in many ways, but she always thought he would be revolted by her seductive and flirtatious behavior. She shook her head – the thought of it all made her blush madly and feel all tingly inside.

Suddenly, the door creaked open. There standing in the doorway was a slightly wide-eyed Shadow the Hedgehog. Rouge blushed even more.

"Oh... I wasn't expecting you to be out," Shadow stated.

"Uhh... I- I wasn't.. eavesdropping, I was just.. um, passing by... and, uh..." Shadow raised an eyebrow at the bat. Yeah.. he wasn't buying the act. "I'm sorry, Shadow! I didn't mean to! I was just so bored, and I was going downstairs to get some food, and I heard you talking... so I stopped to listen."

Shadow was back to being wide-eyed again, his eyes showing more surprise than last time. "You... were listening? This whole time?" Rouge nodded reluctantly, half expecting a slap across the face. He was, after all, the ultimate life form – and he had the right to do so. But... it never came. "...How much did you hear?"

"..."

That was all that was going through the jewel thief's mind at that moment. She wanted to say she heard only the last part, when he was wishing that Maria could've been there with him, but she couldn't bring herself to lie to him. "...Most of it," Rouge answered with a tinge of regret in her voice. She stared at the ground, one arm grabbing the other as she waited silently for the scolding. Again, it never came, as there was only silence between the two.

"Well, I'm sorry you had to put yourself through that," Shadow mumbled, turning around and beginning to walk down the stairs.

"..Wait, Shadow!" Rouge called after him. Surprisingly, he stopped and turned back around. "Did you really mean all that? What you said about me?"

There was a moment of silence before Shadow answered.

"So what if I did?" he questioned, a tinge of anger and revolt in his voice. "It doesn't change a thing between us."

"Yes it does! You love me."

"And you love that idiot Knuckles. I can't change that, nor will I even try to."

"...No I don't." Rouge's reply shocked the black hedgehog.

"..Don't lie to me..." he mumbled.

"I'm not lying. I don't love him... the only things I really like about him are his Master Emerald and the look he gets when I mess with his head. That's it. I'll be yours if you want me to, Shadow. All you have to do is say it." Rouge looked down at the ground again, blushing. Shadow walked back up a couple steps, his eyelids lowered, narrowing his gaze.

"...Do you mean that?" He asked, a bit of hurt showing in his eyes. "Or are just trying to make me feel better?"

Rouge looked at him for a moment, then walked down a couple steps so that she was looking straight into his eyes.

"'Cause if you are, I swear I will-" Shadow never got to finish his sentence as Rouge's gloss-covered lips pressed against his. He staggered a bit, shocked that she would ever even begin to think about doing such a thing, then closed his eyes and returned the kiss. He honestly wished that moment would never end, the fact that the one he loved was kissing him, wrapping her arms around him, and that tingly feeling he was feeling inside that was beginning to grow even stronger. Sadly though, Rouge pulled away, and stared right into his crimson red eyes again.

"Is that enough proof for ya?" She smirked.

"Yes," Shadow answered, managing a small but existing smile. He swept her off her feet and held her in his arms bridal style. She let a small gasp enter her throat, but it was one of pleasure. He walked back up the stairs and kicked open the door to his bedroom.

"What are we doing?" Rouge asked with curiosity.

"Going out," Shadow answered, sitting the bat upon his shoulder and sliding the window open. He scooped her up in his arms again and jumped through the window, landing swiftly on the lower rooftop. He lept onto the higher roof with one swift jump, then jumped onto another rooftop. Running close to top speed, he jumped over to the next rooftop, then the next. Repeating this process many times, he reached where he wanted to go. Walking over to the edge of the roof, he set Rouge down beside him where they both sat down, legs hanging off the side of the building.

Rouge stared out into the distance, trying to figure out why Shadow brought her here. Her eyes widened at what she saw – this place had a terrific view of a beautiful lake she didn't even know existed. Bright stars lighted up the black sky, the large moon shone into the lake, reflecting against the shimmering water. Grass and flowers surrounded the lake with a few trees here and there, adding to the gorgeousness.

"Shadow, how'd you find this place?" She asked, taking in its beauty.

"You were out one day, and I was all alone. So I decided to explore a little," he answered.

"It's beautiful." Rouge stated, leaning against the black hedgehog. Shadow wrapped his arms around her.

"Glad you like it."

Moments of silence rolled by as the two stared into the distance. Neither of the two spoke, as that would ruin the moment of peace and content. Until a question came up to Rouge's mind.

"Tell me about her."

Shadow looked down to her with a questioned look on his face. "Who? Maria?"

Rouge raised an eyebrow. "No, Amy," she joked. Though, apparently Shadow took it seriously.

"Well, um... I don't know much about her. She... hugged me once, and mistook me-"

Relax, Shadow, I was only joking about Amy," She stopped him, laughing a little. "Tell me about Maria. What was she like?"

"Oh... well, she was my only friend aboard the ARK. I was created to help people - the ultimate life form, they always called me there. But Maria made me feel like I was created for an even more important purpose. She was always so kind to everyone, even me." Shadow paused for a bit. "We spent everyday together, always dreaming that one day, we'd be able to visit the world below together."

"What kept you guys from going?" Rouge asked, curious.

"She had a disease, NIDS. She was terminally ill, and her condition was contagious, so we couldn't go down there until they found a cure for her. Maria was also the main reason for why I was created. The scientists wanted to study immortality and find a cure. Unfortunately, they never found one, and by then it was too late. The GUN soldiers boarded the ARK and..." Shadow paused, shutting his eyes tightly, as if blocking out bad memories. "They killed her."

Rouge looked at the hedgehog sympathetically, trying to picture the situation in her mind. She couldn't – it was too painful a thought. It somewhat hurt her to think that her best friend had to go through such a tragedy. Giving a small sigh, she placed a hand on his and gave a reassuring squeeze.

"I'm so sorry, Shadow," she murmured to him. Shadow kept his eyes shut, but the pressure shown in his face seemed to lighten up a lot more. "I'm sorry you had to go through all that.

"It's ok, I'm fine. She left with good intentions for me," Shadow admitted, opening his crimson eyes a little. The moonlight shined into them, making them sparkle like rubies – something Rouge admittedly was always attracted to. "You would've liked her," he finally said, giving a small, sympathetic smile. "She was always so nice to everyone – someone you could easily make friends with. And she had a smile that even Dr. Eggman couldn't resist."

"I'm sure I would," Rouge replied, scooting closer to the black hedgehog.

"I miss her."

"Don't worry, Shadow..." Rouge lay her head on Shadow's chest, looking out into the distance. "I'm sure she's proud of you."

Giving one last sigh, Shadow wrapped one of his arms around the bat, joining her in gazing out into the horizon.

Somehow by some unknown force, Shadow knew that Maria was looking down upon him, giving that smile that could light up a whole town and saying aloud how happy she was for him. Feeling peaceful and content, the hedgehog closed his eyes and gave a small smile. I_'Thank you, Maria,'/i_ he thought to himself. i'_For everything...'/i_


End file.
